400ml coconut cream, room temperature
500g rice flour
20g fresh yeast
1 tsp sugar
14 eggs
1 tsp salt
sesame oil for frying
COCONUT SAMBAL
1½ cups grated fresh coconut
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp caster sugar
1 cup coriander leaves, chopped
1 green chilli, roughly chopped
1To make sambal, place coconut, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, coriander and chilli in a bowl, toss to combine.
2For the hoppers, place coconut cream, rice flour, yeast, sugar and 1 cup of warm water in a bowl, stir to combine and stand in a warm place for 45 minutes or until mixture is risen and frothy.
3Gradually add another 1-1½ cups of warm water until the mixture is a thin pouring consistency. Cover bowl and stand in a warm place for 3-4 hours or until the batter mix has doubled in size.
4Lightly beat 2 eggs with a fork until foamy. Add to rice mixture with salt and stir to combine.
5Heat a small 10cm non-stick frying pan over high heat, wipe pan lightly with sesame oil, then pour in about a third of a cup of mixture. Swirl to coat sides of pan, leaving a small pool in the centre.
6Crack an egg into the centre and cover pan, steam for 2-3 minutes until centre is firm and sides are golden and crisp. Remove from pan, keep warm and repeat until all batter has been used. Serve fresh and warm topped with sambal.
Mario Marson is playing around with lesser known Italian varieties and his friulano is right on the mark. Its guava-like flavours and intriguing texture sit nicely with the egg hoppers with the kick in the coconut sambal swiftly mopped up by the Friulano. It’s a heavenly match.